This is interesting in that this is technically part of a series that the author’s been working on since ‘04, but this is meant to be an entry point/start of a new series within the established universe. As someone who hasn’t read any of the previous three books that Tor.com has published, I was able to fall into the universe fairly easily. This is apparently about 350 pages, and at the beginning, you feel the length. There’s a lot of setup work with a motley crew, a brother and sister, and the detective who gets dragged into their heist. At first, I thought the focus was going to be on the detective, but I honestly feel like the core of this story is the brother and sister, and the heist they end up pulling off. While the setup feels like it drags a fair bit, when they get into the actuality of the heist, it’s a hell of a read. Magical DRM, contract laws as applies to magical contracts, prosperity gospel as a housing for parasitic demons, and dream space imaginations of places like Whitechapel all show up, but it feels like we didn’t get the chance to fully explore all of it, despite being 300 pages. I’d definitely read more, but maybe consider narrowing the focus next time?

This is set in the world of the Laundry Files, but the Laundry and its work is absent, bar a few passing references. The flavour is the same, though, the usual mix of wild eldritch transdimensional horror and the fetishisation of competency and process you’d expect from hard SF. This one throws Peter Pan into the mix, as an updated version of the Lost Boys get mixed up in a demon strewn hunt for a missing occult book that has some very firm ideas on ownership. Don’t be put off by the lack of Bob and Mo, this is very much in the lineage of the earlier books, and if you’ve enjoyed them this is going to work for you as well.
I’m not 100% sure if it is a standalone, or setting up a new cast for a string of books. It could work either way, and I’d just as happy with a new Imp and co book as I would a new Bob one. And surely there’s a crossover brewing down the line….

Dead Lies Dreaming isn't really The Laundry Files Book 10. It's more the first book in a spin-off series. Still set in the same universe but a mostly new set of characters. A new reader could start here but to get the full effects and nuances it's best to read from the beginning with The Atrocity Archives.

This novel is incredibly imaginative, I thought the technological bit was good, but when the book veered off into the occult I was amazed. The book describes a group of metahumans, who use their talents in robberies, non violent of course, because in the twenty first century punishments for violence are harsh, which does not, however, put everyone off doing violence.
I would recommend the novel.

*** I received this book as a free copy from Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge Books in return for an honest review ***

For fans of Charles Stross's Laundry Files series, this is a new series set in that same world. There are references to that world but no other strong links, so this book can be read by beginners to the series as well as old fans. If you loved Lovecraftian books with creeping eldritch horror and dread, you'll love this book. I did.

The book starts in a world where magic is rampant. No 10 is occupied by the adherents of a mad god (who is the Prime Minister), and a high priest of a rival god is trying to find a copy of the concordance to the Necronomicon and achieve ultimate power. The story is told mostly from the viewpoint of a group of teenagers and the secretary of the high priest (no spoilers). The policewoman in the description of the book occupies very little of the plot, so this really has very little to do with her. It's a little more young adult than Stross's Laundry Files series since the main characters come across as impossibly young and innocent. It reminded me somewhat of Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co series but darker.

Stross is at his cynical best when describing corporate executives and their overwhelming focus on money. The heroes are good, the villains are suitably evil, and all is well with the world (for the reader). For the characters, there is hopefully a sequel - because I want to know what happens next!

Good as ever, this one is more of a caper novel in the 'new' reality of the Laundry Files, none of the main characters carrying over. There are a couple of good new main characters (I'm not sure if they'll be continuing in later books) and we get a look at more of the world under the New Management. While there are some terrible things in this book, it felt a little more 'fun' than some of the bleaker main sequence books, also the characters are a bit more diverse and there's a bit of queer romance (although this is definitely not any kind of love story). I'm looking forward to the next one.

I am unable to provide a verbatim copy of my review until it us published in Booklist when the book is available in stores. I feel it was a strong start to a new series adjacent to the highly regarded Laundry Files series.